We have a great responsibility. Whatever we make will become the truth, the visual reality that a generation will accept.

Inspiration can hit you in the head at any time in any context. It could happen in a conversation. Talking to someone at a party, you can get an idea. But you've got to remember those inspirations.

If it was up to the studio, everything would be shot with a camcorder.

I tend to like strong female characters. It just interests me dramatically. A strong male character isn't interesting because it has been done and it's so cliched. A weak male character is interesting: somebody else hasn't done it a hundred times. A strong female character is still interesting to me because it hasn't been done all that much, finding the balance of femininity and strength. [From a 1986 Fangoria interview]

Don't get seduced by your own stuff; work hard to keep a blank slate state of mind each time you watch your film.

My mother was a housewife but she was also an artist. My father was an electrical engineer.

Old Rose: It's been 84 years, and I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used. The sheets had never been slept in. Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.